# Corn Cob Pipe S.O.S. !!!



## FLIPFLOPS_AND_SHADES (Nov 25, 2010)

I am really bummed....I just got my Missouri Meerschaum Corn Cob Pipe today and I smoked one bowl in it and IT WAS AWESOME!!! It had an excellent draw...

However, when I went to clean it, I noticed that towards the bottom of the bowl, it had partially burnt away at the lining of the walls!!!

Is this normal? What can/should I do, if anything about this? :sad:

Somewhat relatedly, how does one "clean" a cob? It looks like the walls are "charred" and I can't really wipe it away with a paper towel...:hmm:

Any help and I would be grateful....


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## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

FLIPFLOPS_AND_SHADES said:


> I am really bummed....I just got my Missouri Meerschaum Corn Cob Pipe today and I smoked one bowl in it and IT WAS AWESOME!!! It had an excellent draw...
> 
> However, when I went to clean it, I noticed that towards the bottom of the bowl, it had partially burnt away at the lining of the walls!!!
> 
> ...


I've never had any, but I've always assumed the point of having a cob was because they were cheap. Burnouts don't matter and cleaning isn't necessary. Discard when done.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Have a look here: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/270323-mudding-hackert-corncob-pipe.html


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

Unless you start seeing char on the outside of the cob you are OK. By char on the outside I mean burning through. To clean a cob just run pipe cleaners through it. You don't have to clean the inside of the bowl either. If yours has a filter I would personally take it out and throw it away.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

ChronoB said:


> I've never had any, but I've always assumed the point of having a cob was because they were cheap. Burnouts don't matter and cleaning isn't necessary. Discard when done.


They are disposable in some regards but "if you take care of them, they'll take care of you." Funny enough I've figured out that you can actually build up massive levels of cake in a cob and it will not crack, explode, or open up a wormhole. Who knew? arty:


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## CaptainEnormous (Sep 30, 2010)

Keep smoking it. And don't clean the bowl ever (this goes for cob & briar). If it's really a burn-out issue, you'll know when either the outside of the bowl shows signs, or you taste burning corn cob. Most likely, it's just the pipe itself getting broken in. A cob pipe is just a corn cob, after all. It's going to char when you burn tobacco in it.

Cobs smoke and breath extremely well. They provide cool smokes from the first puff. But there's a downside, which is that they don't last forever. You'll get char on the rim that you can't buff out, and the pipe itself can never be properly cleaned, due to the stem-bowl join that cobs use. 

But all of that is okay. Just run a cleaner through the stem after each smoke (soaked in alcohol doesn't hurt), and don't worry. Your cob should be good for months, if not years, to come.



Post a pic if you are really worried. That'll help people diagnose.


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## WyoBob (Mar 6, 2007)

I've mudded all 8 of my cobs with cigar ash and distilled water. I generally smoke the cobs for 6-10 bowls when new to burn some of the stem away and then apply the mud. The bowl bottom ends up round and smooth making the bowl easier to clean and eliminating any "nooks & crannies" that collect junk or may contribute to a burnout problem. I use a paper towel on the round end of a Sharpie marker & twist it around a bit to clean the bowls.

I did manage to cake up quite a bit the three cobs I took to a job I was on for 35 days at a remote location with no detriment except reducing capacity. When I got back, I rounded the bottom of a dowel, taped some sandpaper to it, chucked it in my drill press and reamed the bowls as slow speed. I pretty much took all of the cake out and, afterwords, kind of felt that the cobs smoked a bit better with a little cake than with a "cleaned to the cob" bowl. After a few bowls in each, they were back to being great.


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## EvoFX (Nov 11, 2008)

this is good to know since i am getting a new shipment of cobs. 

i have a question though. since i will be trying new tobacco would it be a problem when i try different flavors in the pipe? should i clean it out after? or just let it cake. does it cuase ghosting like other pipes is what i mean.


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## WyoBob (Mar 6, 2007)

Jack Straw said:


> They are disposable in some regards but "if you take care of them, they'll take care of you." Funny enough I've figured out that you can actually build up massive levels of cake in a cob and it will not crack, explode, or *open up a wormhole*. Who knew? arty:


You're wrong. It can open a wormhole. Or----- it could have been the Scotch:wink:


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## WyoBob (Mar 6, 2007)

EvoFX said:


> this is good to know since i am getting a new shipment of cobs.
> 
> i have a question though. since i will be trying new tobacco would it be a problem when i try different flavors in the pipe? should i clean it out after? or just let it cake. does it cuase ghosting like other pipes is what i mean.


I have cobs I dedicate to vapers, "Balklish" (Balkan/English) and aro's but I have one cob that I've purposely changed blends in to see if it ghosts. I might have had a bit of ghosting when I used to smoke Tambolaka in that pipe but it disappeared after I quit smoking it. I've never detected ghosting in this pipe otherwise but my palette is old, "uneducated" and I'm not too particular.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

WyoBob said:


> You're wrong. It can open a wormhole. Or----- it could have been the Scotch:wink:


Funny you mention it, I knew a guy who built up a lot of cake in his cob, and then loaded a bowl of half 1792 Flake, half Stonehaven, and a pinch of Mixture 79. No one has heard from him since. :dunno:


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## EvoFX (Nov 11, 2008)

so i had my first dish, and it has the worst bite ever. just terrible. is it because i have not broken it in yet? i mean man its a terrible taste.


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## FLIPFLOPS_AND_SHADES (Nov 25, 2010)

My first experience with cobbs was great other than the reason for starting this thread. Might have been the tobacco but I am certainly no expert.


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